Nicole Nutt

"All the pieces fit together"

Moving through several areas of the hospital during the past 14 years, each of the positions Nicole has held fit together. It was when she began to interact with patients that she began to find real meaning in the work she was doing behind the scenes. These human connections came to be the favorite part of her job.

While working in "medical records" may sound like it's about paperwork, it really means understanding how someone will be cared for that day. Preparation for a day in the clinic, Nicole reviews the charts, determines why each person is being seen for that appointment, what the doctor needs to provide for each and how the patient's time will be spent with the cancer center that day. Being able to help both doctor and patient and taking the time to know how someone is doing is rewarding as well as important for care.

People sometimes ask her how she can work at a cancer center, where people face such challenges every day. Nicole finds the inspiration that patients bring and getting to know each person individually is what makes it easy. Nicole explains, "I have a greater understanding of what living with cancer means. I am privileged to get to know so many inspirational people and be a part of their care."

Knowing the people who are patients is what enables Nicole to put passion into everything she does at The Cancer Center at Lowell General. She is currently pursuing certification as a medical assistant and as a cancer registrar - the role of taking data about cancer diagnosis and treatment for each patient and providing that to the National Cancer Registry as a way to monitor and track statistics and outcomes. These efforts, conducted across the nation, bring increasingly successful ways to address the disease.

So when Nicole handles each patient chart, she knows she is helping each person today and those who may be cured tomorrow. She makes a difference at Lowell General Hospital and in cancer care.

Circle Health is a progressive collaboration of physicians, hospitals, other health providers and organizations with a shared vision for empowering people and communities to be healthier.

Wellforce is a health system that is rethinking how academic and community centers, local and national businesses, and technology and service innovators can all work together. So that clinicians can deliver expert care where it's needed most. And so that we can bring wellness back to health care, one person at a time.